


Polo

by lalaluma



Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: F/F, M/M, Multi, NB Marco, Nonbinary Character, Other, Underage Drinking, it's only brief tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2016-11-30
Packaged: 2018-09-03 10:23:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8708806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lalaluma/pseuds/lalaluma
Summary: Tom isn't quite sure what he is to Marco, but he wants to find out.First, though, he has to find Marco.The other party guests are not being very helpful.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Non Binary Marco using they/them pronouns in this fic because I'm bitter and someone tried to invalidate my pronouns. So now I validate them through Marco.  
> Teen rating is really just because Janna is a party animal.

In the past few years, Tom had made many great strides in improving his life. He had his temper on a much tighter leash than probably ever before in his life, which allowed Tom to socialize more. The more Tom socialized, the more of a tolerance he built up for others irritating behaviours, and the better he got at interacting in a more appropriate manner. He managed to partially repair his friendship with Star, and build maybe something a little more than friendship with Marco. It was still very...unclear where the two of them stood. 

 

They were at least friends, for sure. Star was usually the one who invited Tom over for movies or their usual Thursday routine, which Marco never seemed to have a problem with. A couple of times Tom found himself stuck between the two of them sleeping on his shoulders, usually resigning himself to sleep as well, seeing as Star slept like an octopus so there was no way he was leaving the couch anytime soon. Sometimes, Marco would hold onto Tom’s arm or grab his hand under the blanket, usually keeping it there until one of them had to get up.

 

This wasn’t really to keep it a secret. Star definitely knew they occasionally held hands, because she started it. When the line between ‘just friends’ and ‘something more’ was just starting to smudge, Marco and Tom had just kind of sat awkwardly next to each other, movements wooden and unwilling to go into each others space. Star, however, never seemed to have any issues with getting into anyone's personal space. She had shoved off the blanket, grabbed both of their hands, and smooshed them together. They were both frozen in shock as she gently placed the blanket back over the three of them, but were jarred into motion when she put her feet on one end of the couch and shoved Tom over almost on top of Marco. It was all very awkward, but soon enough they were able to relax, adjusting their fingers to lace together properly.

 

Then there were the times Marco invited him over to play games. They both agreed that there came a point where playing with Star stopped being fun and started being frustrating, because her drive to win and lack of respect for the rules combined into a beast no man could tame. So Star would go hang out with Jackie and Janna, and Tom would come over to play games. Usually tabletop games, because they were less immersive and were less likely to frustrate Tom. Though occasionally they would play video games that were co-operative or more geared towards the players fun than the thrill of competition. 

 

Tom really enjoyed these nights, getting swept up in some silly game Marco had found at some weird novelty shop or online. The first time they had kissed, it had been a moment like this. Where they had just spent the past hour trying to get past a level, and when they finally had, Tom had acted without really thinking. Grabbing Marco by their hoodie and pulling them in for a quick celebratory kiss that was only half on their lips, the other half on their cheek. When he pulled away it took him a solid ten seconds to realize he hadn’t just  _ thought _ about kissing Marco. He’d done it. 

Before Tom could fully babble out an apology for his rash actions, Marco took hold of his cheeks and gave him a more proper kiss. As they moved back, Marco was laughing nervously, and Tom had to remind himself that Marco wasn’t laughing at him. They was adorable, tan face lit up with a wide splash of red, giggling uncontrollably. Tom found himself laughing, too.

 

They definitely weren’t dating, Tom was sure he would know if they were, but they weren’t really just friends either. Unless friends kissed each other like Marco kissed Tom on Earth, but he was pretty sure that wasn’t the case. It was confusing though, considering the only person other than Marco he would ask about this was Star, and he had caught her in a vaguely compromising situation with one of the girls she had insisted to Marco she was just friends with. 

 

Either she was lying (which was entirely possible) and in the whirlwind of things the line that had once only been smudged was now blurred so completely Tom couldn’t find it, or humans were much more affectionate than Tom would be comfortable with should he ever make more friends. Seeing as he wasn’t sure, he hadn’t really made an effort to be around too many other humans on his own. Star, like always, had other plans.

 

Her one friend, Jackie, was hosting a party, and Star insisted Tom had to come so that Marco would. Apparently they didn’t want to go with just Star because she would end up causing trouble with Janna and abandon them, which sounded about right. 

 

So he went, and as predicted, Janna and Star were nowhere to be seen after only being there for five seconds. That was fine, Tom didn’t really mind, because he still had Marco. They made their way to the drinks table, briefly spotting Star holding Janna’s legs as she did a keg stand. Tom was almost certain the drinking age up here was definitely older than 17, but he wasn’t about to tell Star what she could and could not do. Seeing this, however, Marco made sure that they opened a new two liter to pour their drinks.

 

In the living room there was apparently an impromptu Disney movie marathon happening, but there wasn’t really any room on the couch left. Jackie and Star ran upstairs to grab more seating, but ended up taking way longer than they should have. For like, anything. Marco frowned at the ceiling. “How long do you think it will be before they tell me they’re dating?”

 

Tom was taken aback by this. If he played this situation right, he knew he might finally have an answer to what him and Marco were. “Do you, uh...what makes  you think they are?” 

 

Marco shrugged, looking down into their drink. “They just seem really close lately. Like, attached at the hip,” They grinned and bumped their hip against Tom’s, who smiled fondly back. “...and I think I may have caught them in the middle of some heavy petting they tried to play off as a pillow fight.” Tom’s face must have shown how confused he was, because Marco clarified “They were making out.”

 

“No, no, I understood that,” Tom waved off the explanation, lowering his voice some to avoid being overheard. “But, you know, Marco, we make--”

 

“Soooo,” A voice interrupted them, an arm slinging over either of their shoulders. Tom tensed up immediately, but Marco was much more used to Janna. “You’ve figured us out.”

 

“...Us?” 

 

“Yeah, you know,” Janna motioned upstairs with a nod. “Jackie, Star, and I.”

 

“Oh,” Marco said, but it was clear what she revealed hadn’t quite clicked yet. “Oh!” There is was. 

 

Tom opened his mouth to dismiss the new information in favor of getting back to the question that had kept him awake for nights on end, but Marco grabbed his arm and began to tug him through the crowd. They were saying something about going upstairs, Tom assumed to get the chair’s themselves, but he couldn’t quite hear the words over the noise of the party. Janna was giggling at the illuminated screen of her phone, probably texting the other two girls to warn them.

 

Whatever. This was fine. Upstairs would be quieter, because Jackie had locked all the doors except the bathroom to keep teenagers from taking advantage of the secluded rooms. Tom would be able to finally talk to Marco about...whatever this was. Or that was the plan, until the worst possible thing happened.

 

Tom recognized it as an accident, but he still had a hard time controlling the flare of anger as he caught the shoulder of one of the football players. Justin, if Tom was remembering correctly. He was a nice enough guy, Marco had introduced them at one point but Tom had more than a hard time making friends so it never really went anywhere from there. The guy was actually apologizing to Tom though, which did help sooth him some, and helped him back up to his feet. Tom was in the middle of telling Justin that it was fine, these things happen, he’s not as fragile as he may look, when he noticed he had a bigger problem. “...Have you seen Marco?”

 

“I just saw the little dude with you but, uh,” Justin looked around, apparently coming to the same conclusion as Tom. “Man, they’re pretty quick, huh?”

 

A muttered thanks and an unsure pat on the arm, and Tom was making his way through the crowd. Unfortunately, the party had filled out way more since they got there, and Tom really didn’t know his way around Jackie’s house as is. He was surrounded by people he didn’t know being too loud, and way too familiar with his personal space. His third eye was capable of seeing heat signatures, but as crowded as the room was that wasn’t going to do him any good. Unsure of what else to do, Tom tried calling out, “Marco?”

 

He jumped when from several different directions multiple voices called back. “Polo!”

 

More frustrated now than ever, Tom huffed out a breath that was more smoke than air, and tried again. “Marco!”

 

And again, several people who weren’t Marco yelled back, “Polo!”

 

This time it was all smoke billowing out of his mouth, and he could feel his eyes glowing with energy as both his hands fisted his hair. “ **_Marco!_ ** ”

 

“Polo!”

 

This repeated a few more times, each time, tom getting more and more frustrated. He was only aware of how far he had let himself go when he felt a tug at his hand. Tom huffed out a final cloud of smoke and blinked several times before he realized it was Marco holding his hand, trying to pull him out of the air. Oh. When had he begun floating? That probably made him pretty easy to find but now…. Now Marco looked concerned, probably because Tom was scaring his friends, and he decided he had messed up bad this time. 

 

Tom covered his eyes with his free hand as he slowly floated down, unwilling to show Marco his tears should he start crying from embarrassment, which was feeling like more and more of a very real possibility. “Marco, I’m sorry,” his voice quiet, and a little rough from all the smoke.

 

“It’s not your fault,” Marco assured him, but Tom wouldn’t believe this. He let himself go too far. The party had gone pretty quiet while he’d been floating, but now it was returning to it’s previous volume. Marco reached up for his other wrist, but Tom wasn’t quite ready to give up his cover yet, so they rested their chin on his shoulder to keep talking softly enough to not be overheard. “It’s an Earth game, where someone yells ‘Marco’, and you’re supposed to yell back ‘Polo’ so they can find you. You didn’t know, and they didn’t know you were actually looking for me.” They were rubbing small circles into his wrist, still trying to coax him to show them his face. “It’s not your fault, Tom. You didn’t know.”

 

It was actually a relief when Tom sighed and only hot air came out. He rubbed his rough fingers against his eyes briefly, clearing the tears threatening to fall, and allowed Marco to maneuver his arms to circle them. They returned the gesture affectionately. “I should, uh…” Tom muttered, uncertain. “I should go. I’ve embarrassed you enough.”

 

“Please, I’ve been living with Star for three years. I promise you there’s nothing my demon boyfriend can throw at me that’s more embarrassing than what my alien roommate has already done. Besides, I just scored us like, the biggest bean bag chair ever.”

 

“...Did you just,” Marco tensed at the words, and Tom grinned. They hadn’t meant to say that, but there was no way he was going to miss this opportunity. “Did you just call me your boyfriend?”

Marco stuttered and stumbled over some sort of defence, but Tom just laughed, pressing their foreheads together. He was grinning so wide it kind of hurt, and Marco was red faced and glaring at the carpet, as if it had personally offended them. Like it was the one responsible for Marco’s slip.

 

“No take backsies. I’m your boyfriend now.”

 

The noise Marco made was caught between a scoff and a giggle, “Like you weren’t basically already.”

  
Though he knew his feet were firmly planted, Tom felt as if he were still floating when Marco pressed a chaste kiss to his lips, the first one they ever shared in public. He continued to not-float as he was lead back over to the living room where they shared the ridiculously huge bean bag chair, and while they watched Disney movies with the subtitles on surrounded by Marco’s classmates. He was still not-floating late that night, snuggled under a blanket with his sleeping datefriend in that same bean bag chair, though this night when Tom lay awake, it wasn’t because he was uncertain of who he was to Marco. Now he was awake, buzzing with excitement over the future, knowing exactly who he was.

**Author's Note:**

> My roommate was watching Jimmy Fallon clips on youtube and he was talking about a girl trying to find her friend Marco at a party, but couldn't because people kept yelling back "Polo!" and I knew then what I had to do
> 
> Will I ever edit this? Probably not.


End file.
